CUA Senior Wishes She Could 'Give Back'

Bethany Brigoli volunteering at day-care center in San Salvador.

Name: Bethany A. Brigoli, Class of 2012

Hometown: Columbia, Md.

Major: Nursing

Service: “While in El Salvador we worked mainly with children as young as babies in the day-care center up to students who would be in elementary school. This was a day-care/school for those children whose parents (mostly single parents) needed to go out during the day to make a living, usually striving to make $3 a day.

"I think it’s so funny to realize I am being recognized for this ‘service’ commitment when there are people who devote their whole lives to service for others. Not only missionaries, or those doing long-term service work, but the parents, guardians, grandparents of these kids who work so hard every day so that their children and grandchildren can live a better life. These people are so pure of heart, so kind, and so grateful, I only wish I could give back to them what they had done for me that one week I was there."

Where: Mary, Mother of the Poor Parish, San Salvador, El Salvador

Why: "This past summer I went to El Salvador with my 13-year-old cousin, Andrew, and my aunt who is a member of Sisters for Christian Community. As my aunt spent this summer visiting family members and old friends before she moved back home to the Philippines, she also wanted to visit one of the sisters in her community, Sister Patti, who did her mission work there. Sister Patti is a part of a delegation from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and she works at Mary, Mother of the Poor, where she has been for the past 18 years. I admire Sister Patti she is a beautiful person inside and out. She’s really learned the ways of the people there, and really sees herself as one of them. She’s dedicated her life to the poor and radiates her sense of compassion and love for God and His people."